TMNT 2012: Our Neighbour Totoro
by Sesshomarusama3
Summary: Strange things can happen to the most unlikley people, be they young or old, and it just so happens to be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themselves that get caught up in this odd adventure, learning that you are never too old to still believe in the impossible. (I OWN NOTHING. IT'S BETTER THAN IT SOUNDS! ENJOY!)
1. Chapter 1: Soot Sprites

**TMNT 2012 Fanfic: Our Neighbor, Totoro**

**Part 1: The Soot Sprites**

Deep within the darkness of the sewers, underneath the grad buzzing city of New York, a large shadowy figure made their way cautiously, and silently through the damp tunnel maze, peering cautiously around the corners, and his sharp hearing listening intently for anything that could possibly be following or watching them from the shadows. He knew that no human with any sense at all would usually come down this far into the sewers, but with the precious company he held, he could not afford to let his guard down.

And after all, he was a ninja master. He would always be cautious. It was his very nature to be so.

Upon seeing that the coast was clear, he quickly picked up his pace, his feet making no sound as he swept through the sewers. His ears pricked up at the sound of several small feet treding lightly and rapidly behind him to keep up with his pace. He paused periodically, both to check for danger and to make sure his company had kept up with him, until he finally reached his destination; the turnstiles that led to the old, brightly lit, abandoned subway station.

Finally, home Sweet Home.

He let out a sigh of relief as he turned around to find that those same little figures had been able to keep up with him. So far, he had trained them well it seemed. "We are here, my sons," he said, moving out of the way to let his sons through the turnstiles.

"Alright!" they laughed in unison as the four, five-year-old mutant turtles pushed and shoved one another in order to get into the lair first, with the young hot headed turtle, Raphael, predictably winning. The eldest, Leonardo, was not far behind him, scolding him for cheating and pushing passed the younger two, Donatello and Michelangelo, too hard. However, Donatello, the third youngest and second oldest of the four, paid it no mind as he was far too fascinated by what he held in his small, three fingered hands to care about what his older brother had done; a gaming controller. He could use that for something in the furture.

Michelangelo, the youngest and smallest of the four brothers, only stuck his tongue out at Raphael before happily padding his way back to his father, reaching his hands upwards with a large grin on his face, wanting to be picked up. Master Splinter chuckled as he lifted his son up in one arm with little effort, despite how much he had grown, and made his way towards the pit in the centre of the lair, with the bag of supplies and gifts they had retrieved from their scavenger hunt earlier in his other hand.

As soon as he was in the pit, he sat down on the bench that served as a couch and set Michelangelo down next to his brothers, who were now crowding around their father, staring up at him eagerly. "Daddy, can we have our presents now?!" Michelangelo asked with a pleading, freckled grin. His brothers all nodded in agreement.

Splinter chuckled again, "Yes, my sons, you may have them. But only after you clean your room," he instructed.

Whilst his younger three brothers groaned, Leonardo smiled and bowed to his father, though he was still quite clumsy about it. "Come on, you guy'th, that room isthn't gunna clean isth'self!" he stated, his voice being slightly stuttered and slurred from his lack of front teeth, which he had only lost a week ago. Another sign that his sons were growing up far too fast.

As the boys made their way to the room that they shared on the other side of the lair, Raphael huffed in annoyance, "Daddy never said you were in charge, Leo!" he argued, folding his little arms across his chest.

"But I'm da oldest! I'm always'th gunna be in charge!" Leo argued back with a frown, prodding his younger brother in the chest to prove his point.

"I dunno 'bout you guys, but I just wanna get the surprises daddy brought with us!" Mikey piped up, hurrying in front of his brothers to get into their room quicker.

Donnie shook his head, "He says that now, but later, he's just gonna mess it up again," he sighed. Leo and Raph nodded in agreement. Out of the four, little Mikey was of course the messiest, with Raph coming in a close second, Donnie being third, and Leo being the neatest of them all. It was sometimes left to him to clean up after everyone else, which irritated the little turtle to no end.

As Mikey reached the door to their room, he grasped hold of the handle eagerly and tried to push it open. To his and his older brothers' surprise, it didn't open. Mikey pushed it harder, but it still would not budge. "This thing is stupid! It won't open!" he cried.

"Outta the way Mikey,_ I'll_ handle this!" Raph boasted as he shoved his younger brother out of the way and grasped the door handle with both hands. With all the strength he had in his little body, he pushed hard on the door and it finally swung open.

And before their very eyes, millions of tiny shadowy spectacles dispersed away from them, hiding within the many hidden cracks of their room or simply disappearing into thin air.

The four young turtles gasped collectively in horror. They shared a terrified glance with one another as they closed into themselves.

_What was that?_

They peered around their shared room, squinting intensely at every crack, every shadow and every open space for the black, bug-like creatures. Raph was especially frightened, though he would not dare show it in front of his brothers, for he had a colossal fear of insects. Mikey was simply afraid of monsters under his bed, which was why he had Donnie underneath his bunk to keep him safe. Donnie, though very curious as to what those tiny creatures could have possibly been, was also scared. When he had no knowledge of something and was afraid of it, he would try and find a book about it and research it, and once he knew everything about it, he would no longer be afraid. But whatever those creatures were, they were nothing he had ever even heard of, unless they were some kind of new species of bug. Leo was unnerved, but he would do anything to protect his brothers, even if it meant getting himself hurt.

He had done it before, and he would do it again…

The eerie silence still hung over the four young brothers as they skimmed their large eyes fearfully around the room, with Leo holding his arms out slightly in order to protect his younger brothers, should the creatures suddenly decide to attack them. Suddenly, Raph drew in a profound breath and roared into the room, scaring the living daylights out of his brothers and triggering them to shriek also. When the high pitched screaming stopped, nothing happened; nothing stirred, nothing was heard.

Silence fell upon the room once again.

"I think they're gone," Donnie whispered. The others nodded.

They nearly screamed again when a large shadow fell upon them. They spun around with a chorused gasp, only to find the familiar face of their father looking down at them with a mixture of confusion, slight irritation and concern. "What was all the screaming about?" he asked the four of them.

"Senthei, thomthing's running around in here!" Leo cried.

Splinter cocked a brow, "Running around, you say? Is it rats?"

"I don't think so," Donnie said, "and they're not bugs or mice either."

"They were black and they were all over the place!" Raph cried.

Splinter hummed curiously. "Well, let's have a look then, shall we?" He mused as he entered the boys' room. The young turtles were close behind him, Mikey clinging to his robe as their father bravely entered their seemingly haunted room. He sniffed the air and pricked his ears. He hummed thoughtfully and stroked his beard.

"So?" probed Donatello.

Splinter turned and looked down at them with a reassuring smile. "It was most likely some Soot Gremlins," he said. The looks he received were almost priceless. If he were not himself, he would have laughed.

"What do ya mean, 'Gremlin'ths'?" asked Leonardo, "like the oneth's in my book?"

Splinter nodded. "Or it could be ghosts," he smiled, "however, I have heard tell that ghosts do not tend to come out on nice days such as these." He began to walk purposefully to the door to their room, his young sons following curiously behind him.

"But, sensei, ghosts aren't real," Donatello proclaimed, tugging on his robe, "They're just a fig-a-ment of our immigration."

Splinter nearly laughed out loud at that, but cleared his throat to stop it, "I think you mean 'figment of our imagination', Donatello," he corrected. "Normally, you cannot see these ghosts, but it is said that every once in a long while, when you move from the daylight to the shadows, you can catch a brief glimpse of them."

They gazed up at him wonder. "Really, sensei?" Raphael asked.

"Really, Raphael," Splinter nodded dramatically.

With a big freckled smile, Michelangelo cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" His older brothers were quick to laugh and join in. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" they sang as they began to laugh together. Splinter let out a chuckle as he watched his sons. It was times like these that he felt what every father would feel at this stage; not wanting his precious children to grow up. However, as cruel as fate was, he knew that sometime his sons would have to grow up, and then, probably, leave their sewer home to find their own paths in life. Though they could never truly belong with the human world above, they may still choose to use their ninjitsu skills to travel away from this country and venture into different and unfamiliar lands…

However, until that day came, he would shelter and protect his sons for as long as he could.

And on top of that…

"Now, my sons," he spoke as their laughter finally subsided, "I believe it is time for us to begin cleaning the lair. We are ninjas after all…"

"…and ninjas leave no trace'th!" Leonardo finished eagerly, earning a roll of the eyes from Raphael.

Splinter chuckled, "Yes, Leonardo, that is true. Now, let us get started."

"Hai Sensei!" they replied in unison as thy followed their father out of the room.

However, when he heard a sudden flurry of movement behind him, Mikey spun around and glared at the wall, his baby blue eyes focused intensely at the large crack at the other side of the room.

His keen eyes just caught the sight of movement within the large crack.

Slowly and silently, he moved closer to the wall, his eyes never leaving the crack. He stopped merely an inch from the wall. After a silent moment of staring inside the crack, he slowly lifted his hand and poked the crack with his little green finger.

He nearly shrieked in terror as a cloud of black creatures burst from the crack and exploded in his face. He stood frozen, his eyes wide and his body trembling in fear as he watched the black cloud fly up into the ceiling and simply vanish, almost into thin air.

However, as Mikey recovered from his shock, he noticed a small black dot floating mindlessly in the air. It appeared to be almost intoxicated as it began to float to the ground. Mikey stared up at it in befuddlement as it came to eyelevel with him. Slowly, he raised his hands and without warning, he slapped his hands together, trapping the creature within his grip.

"I caught one!" Mikey squeaked as he stumbled out of the room, "Daddy, Leo, Raphie, Donnie look!" He darted straight out of the bedroom and when he found no one in the living room, he stumbled into the kitchen where he immediately collided with his red clad older brother, Raphael, and they both fell to the floor.

"**_OW_**! Mikey, what's the big idea?!" cried Raph angrily as he rubbed his aching head. Splinter, Donnie and Leo gathered around to see what all of the commotion was about.

Mikey, his hands still clasped together, struggled to his knees and looked up at his older brother, "Sorry Raphie! I was just gonna – huh?!" he gasped as he opened his hands to find nothing but black dust smothering his green palms, the small creature nowhere to be found. Had he squashed it?

"Mikey, your hands'th are filthy! What on earth did you do?" Leo asked firmly, putting his little hands on his hips in a scolding big brother fashion, making Splinter smile fondly.

Mikey looked up at them, "I caught a Soot Gremlin, but he got away! Or maybe I squished him…poor lil' guy." he said sadly.

"Ah! Mikey, your feet!" Donnie exclaimed, pointing at his younger brothers toes. Confused, Mikey peered down and gasped as he saw black powder-like dust coating his feet. He turned and saw he had somehow left a little trail of black footprints on the floor, leading their way to where he sat now on his knees. How had he not noticed?

Raph looked down at his own feet and found that they too were covered in black dust. "Mine are black too!" he exclaimed.

Leo and Donnie shared a look, and then lifted up their own feet. "Ours too!" they cried in unison.

Splinter's eyes widened in confusion as he knelt down to their level and inspected their hands and feet closley. They were pitch black, not a trace of any real dirt on them. His furry brows rose as he looked back at the trail of black foot prints that led to this spot, then back to his curious sons. A smile crept its way onto his face as an idea lit up in his mind. There had been a story that his father had told him oce when something like this had happened to him back when he was their age...

"It appears we have Soot Sprites in our home, my sons," he said as he rose to his feet, folding his arms behind his back as he looked down at the four of them, their eyes widening in surprise.

"Thoot Thprites, Thensthei?" Leonardo piped up.

"You mean the black puff balls?" Michelangelo asked.

"About this big?" Donatello held up his hand and made a small circle with his thumb and index finger as an example.

"And then they run away everywhere when you go in the room?!" Raphael cried, spreading is arms outwards.

Splinter held back another chuckle as he nodded. "Yes. They are said to live in old, empty places, and run all over the place, covering everthing witb dirt. I used to see them as well when I was your age. And now you have seen them as well," he paused to stroke his beard dramatically, "that is very interesting..."

"A-are they some kinda ghost, Sensei?" Michelangelo stuttered, drawing closer to Leonardo fearfully.

Splinter shook his head with a chuckle he just couldn't surpress this time as he lowered himself to kneel in front of his youngest son, putting a soft hand on his shoulder. "No, do not worry, Michelangelo. They are nothing to be feared. They are gentle creatures; if they decide you are nice people, they will not harm you, and before long, they will simply go away."

He watched his sons share uncertain glances with one another before all nodding in agreement. He smiled. "I bet they are out there somwhere, having a talk about whether or not they should move out."

They all stared at each other before looking up to the ceiling.

* * *

_"Those guys down there are cute as all living heck!" _

_"I wanna stay and cuddle them!"_

_"We can't risk it! They're dangerous! _

_"Look what that orange one did to Steve!"_

_"That was an accident!"_

_"Umm, I'm right here, guys. Still alive..."_

_"They are on to us! We can't stay and risk them finding...you know..."_

_"Oh yeah..._

_"Darn it."_

_"I was really starting to like this place too..."_

* * *

The mutants looked to one another. "You hear that, guyth?" Leo said with a gapped toothed smile, "they're gonna move out!"

Raph pouted and folded his arms. "But I don't want them to leave!" he argued.

"Me neither!" Donnie agreed, "I wanna inspect them! They seem like a once in a lifetime experience!"

"B-but, what if a great big one comes chasing after us in the dark?!" Mikey cried, grabbing Leo's arm and clinging to it like a life line.

Raph smirked, puffing out his chest in a smug manner. "So what? I'm not afraid!" he declared.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Fine then. You can both go to the bathroom by your-thelf in the middle of the night!" he said.

That brought out a laugh from Splinter as he shook his head at the banter his five-year old sons were currently having. "Come now boys, let's get to work. Who would like to start off with moping the floor?" he asked as he took out the mop from behind the fridge.

"I'll do it!" Mikey piped eagerly, waving his arm in the air frantically. His brothers laughed at his eagerness as they set off to perform their other chores, starting with cleaning their hands and feet.

* * *

Before long, with the help of the four, fast moving and nearly untrackable mutant turtles, the lair had been cleaned from top to bottom, including that large stoarge area that Donatello insisted on hording his scientific discoveries from the sewers, such as washed out text books and the like. They had even managed to clean their rooms in the process, which pleased Splinter to know that he would not have to scold them further over the matter.

Before the family sat down to have dinner, Splinter asked his two eldest sons to take out the garbage, to which they readily agreed, and they both grabbed the large back, hauling it out theough the turnstiles and off into the tunnles together, arguing about whose turn it was to watch the T.V after dinner. Splinter still held his worries over his sons wandering off into the tunnels on their own, but of course, as a father of four rowdy boys, he would be. But he trusted Leonardo and Raphael could find their way back with no trouble. Just so long as they didn't fight over something and hurt each other before they got back.

Leo and Raph tugged the heavy bad as much as they could with what strength they possessed in their little bodies as they walked through the tunnels. They turned into another tunnel opening which led into an open spaced pit, littered with past garbage bags that the two had hauled together before. With a heave, they threw the black bag into the pile alongside the other bagsm dusting their hands off in satisfaction.

Suddenly, a chilling wind, gentle but nonetheless cold, swept over them, stopping them both intheir tracks. They bothe looked upwards, trying to find the source of the wind. They were underground, how could wind possibly get down here?

Unless Mikey was right, and there really _was_ a ghost down there...

A powerful gust of wind suddenly blew them right off their feet, sending them flying into the pit before landing on their shells. The garbage around them was lifted off the ground around them and carried into the air, the wind spiralling them into a tornado of trash above their heads. His eyes wide and terrified, Raph scrambled on his hands and knees to Leo's side, clinging on to him as he stared up in fear at the uncanny spectacle above them. Leo gripped him back, not once tearing his eyes away from the tornado above them. They dared not move, for the swirling current of wind was keeping them trapped in place. They held each other tighter, squeezing their eyes shut in fear as their heart beat rapidly. What was going on? They cried out for their sensei to come and save them, but their voices were drowned out by the sound of the howling wind that seemed to sound like a wild beast, roaring out into the night as it hunted its next prey.

Moments passed, and the wind suddenly died down, dropping the trash to the ground around the two boys with a series of thuds. All was then eerily silent.

Raph and Leo shared a look.

Then they screamed with all their might as they scrambled to their feet, climbing up the edge of the pit and running back to the lair, not stopping once until they had leapt over the turnstiles, and when Splinter heard their screams echoing off the sewer walls and came rushing into the main room, he was nearly knocked off his feet when they charged into him like freight trains.

* * *

A storm raged on in the city of New York above the sewers, winds howling and blasting through trees and stalls of any kind as the rain plummeted upon the hard ground, dampening the earth and any human unlucky enough to be caught in such a storm. Hpwever, the inhsbitants of the abandoned subway station beneath the surface were lucky enough that the sewers had not yet flooded their home, and were still very warm and dry, but the power had gone out, leaving the mutant family in the darkness, with nothing but candlelights surrounding them as the storm raged on.

The four turtle boys and their rat sensei sat huddled together in the pit, Splinter wrapping his arms arround Donie and Mikey a they clung to him. Raph and Leo were standing 'guard' in front of them, though Leo had subconsciously shuffled closer to Splinter.

"Sensei, I think this place is too old," Mikey whimpered fearfully, "I think it's gonna fall down."

"That's impossible, Mikey," Donnie reassured, "It's only a bit of wind and rain."

"Your brother is right, Michelangelo," Splinter said, holding Mikey and Donnie closer, "The storm will not harm you."

"Yeah! This stupid storm ain't gonna come in here and hurt ya, Mikey!" Raph said, planting his hands on his hips and giving his younger brother a grin, "Not with me here! I ain't afraid of no storm!"

The lair suddenly seemed to quake as a very strong gust of wind hit. Raph tensed, his tough demenour shattering as he flinched, his eyes going wide and fearful as the sound of the howling wind nearly shattered their eardrums. Mikey and Donnie let out a cry of fear as they clung on tighter to Splinter. Leo latched onto him also, and Splinter wrapped his arms around his three sons.

The sounds of screeching winds and rain suddenly began to die down, leaving the city and the sewer home in a blanket of silence. No one moved or spoke for a long time as the family held their breaths.

Something fell and clattered in the tunnles, making Raphael gasp as he finally shuffled over to his brothers, letting Leo drape his arm over his shoulder and holding him close. Silence befell the lair once again.

Suddenly, Mikey let out a loud, loud laugh that nearly scared his older brothers right out of their shells; even making Splinter's fur stand on end slightly. "Everyone try laughing," Mikey piped up, "Daddy told me that if I laugh at the things that I'm a-scared of, they'll go away! Right, Sensei?"

Splinter chuckled down at his youngest son. "Yes, of course Michelangelo."

It was then that Leo began to laugh along, shortly followed by Donnie. Raph stared at the three in puzzlment. "I'm not scared at all!" he pouted. He glanced up to find Splinter staring down at him with a smile and a raised brow. Raph pouted harder. "What? I'm not scared!"

Without warning, Splinter gathered Raph in his arms and began to tickle him under his arms. He shrieked in laughter, though he tried to wriggle his way out of his fathers' tickle attack, but to no avail as his laughter only weakened him. The other three then turned onto each other, tickling each other until they could barely breathe. Soon, the lair was filled with laughter from four brothers, no longer afraid of the storms that raged on outside their happy home.

However, unbeknownst to them as they laughed their fears away, a small, black trail of tiny bug-like creatures silently flew out from the sewer home, trvelling through the dojo doors and out through the grate, floating high into the air as they travelled above the brightly lit city, and out into the unknown... 

* * *

**A/N: Hi there! This is somethi i've wanted to do for a while! And to those who read my Wizard of Oz fic, don't worry, I'm gonna finish it! Just suffering from writer's block right now!**

**I OWN NOTHING!**

**Enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Forest Spirit

** Part 2: The Forest Spirit**

_10 Years later..._

"Raph! Raph, get up! Training in five, okay?!" Leonardo called, knocking hard onto Raphael's bedroom door. He was answered by a muffled groan, and a halfhearted "okay", indicating that the red turtle was not going to get up any time soon. Leo rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. Honestly, they were fifteen now, not five. Raphael had to learn that they had responsibilities to uphold now. With the city they lived in now infested with Alien Kraang droids and dangerous mutants, not to mention the stupid amount of mutagen canisters still lost within the city, they needed to be at the top of their game, meaning they still needed to train, meaning Raph had to get up right now.

It was then that his youngest brother, Michelangelo, came stumbling out of his room, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "Mornin' Leo," he greeted in a slight slur, "Raph not gettin' up yet?"

Leo sighed as he folded his arms over his chest. "Nope. Not moving a inch." Mikey sighed next to him as he too rolled his eyes. It was then that an idea popped into his head. Grinning, he turned to where Mikey stood on his right. "Mikey, you know the drill."

Mikey grinned back and nodded, and with an almighty kick, he swung the door open, sprinted into Raph's room and leapt on top of him as he lay curled up on his bed. "HEY, WAKE _**UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP**_!" he called loudly, bouncing ligtly up and down on his brother, laughing all the while.

Raph growled loudly as Mikey continued to bounce on him, his temper rising with each passing second. Finally, he errupted, "_GET OFFA ME_!", and he shoved Mikey off his shell, sending both turtles rolling to the floor in a tangle of limbs and blankets. "What're you _doing_?!" he yelled.

Mikey only continued to grin up at him, "Time for training dude! Can't go without you, man!" he said simply, before struggling to his feet and patting Raph on the head and running out the door.

Raph stood up, untangling himself from his blankets as he folded his arms and glared at his older brother. "Did you have to make him do that?" he growled testily.

Leo only shrugged with a grin. "You know how he is, Raph" he replied with a wave of his hand as he turned and headed for the turnstiles to meet Donatello and Michelangelo. Raph rolled his eyes. Leo was right; out of all the brothers, Mikey was probably the only one who stayed the same no matter how old they got. He would always be the same hyper-active, naive, goofball turtle they all knew and loved. No one could change that; Mikey would always be Mikey.

Unless he beat some sense into him. Which sounded very, _very_ appealing in that moment as a grin covered his face.

He got to his feet, still wearing the grin as e walked towards the dojo. "Hey, Mikey," he called, "I gotta tell you something..."

* * *

"_**BOOYAKASHA**_!" Michelangelo cried out jubilantly, his voice echoing and rebounding off the walls of the sewers as he bounded on his skateboard and whizzed past various large piles of garbage and sewage puddles, all the while never slipping his hold of his precious cargo held high in his hand. Although Mikey was well aware that his cargo was very important and should not under any circumstances be dropped or squashed, the orange clad teenage turtle could not help but have a little fun on his way back to their lair; he was after all, the so-called "wild one" out of the four brothers that lived down here. Taking care not to drop the boxes he held, he skidded down the steps, over the turnstiles, and into the lair, coming to a stop once he hit the common area. "Dudes, the Great Michelangelo has returned!" he announced happily.

The three other turtle heads popped out from the kitchen and walked over to their little brother, who held out the pizza boxes with a wide grin on his face. That alone put them on the edge, for that smile in particular meant that he had done something he knew he shouldn't have. "You didn't eat any, right Mikey?" Raphael, inquired the younger turtle, glaring at him suspiciously.

Mikey shrunk backwards slightly, still grinning. "Nah, I didn't eat any! What kind of little brother would I be if I didn't share any of this delicious pizza with my bestest big brothers in the whole world?" he replied innocently, batting his large blue eyes dramatically.

Raph rolled his eyes and took the pizza boxes from his younger brother. Mikey grinned deviously. '_That's what you get for punching me earlier, Raphie,_' he thought evilly. Did his brother really think that he would get away with hitting him before they went for training? No way!

As the turtle brothers made their way to the kitchen to feast on their pizza, Mikey paused and ran back to collect his skateboard from the pit, quietly cackling evilly at the thought of Raph's pizza surprise. As he bent down to pick it up, a small glowing object entered his vision from the bench. He looked up to find the source of the glow. His eyes scanned the lair until he found it; an acorn? Confusion clouding his features, he walked over to the small object, crouched down and picked it up with his large, green hand, rolling it around between his three fingers. How did an acorn get down in the sewers? He must have picked it up by accident somehow after he picked up the pizzas with April. And then again, a lot of things fell down here, even dollar bills every now and then.

Another small object dropped down in front of him, interrupting his thoughts as he looked up from his inspection of the acorn still in his hand. He looked around again and before long, his eyes set upon yet another small acorn, still rolling on the floor from its decent. He stepped over to it and picked it up, raising a brow. Where were these things coming from?

Standing up to his full height, he scratched his head in confusion. He was about to shrug it off and go to the kitchen before his brothers could eat without him when another sound caught his attention once again. Giving in to his childlike curiosity (and ignoring his stomach, whose loud growling could rival to that of a running tractors') he walked back to the entrance of the lair, only to find more acorns littered across the floor. They lay one in front of the other, almost in a straight line, leading out of the lair and into the sewers like a trail of little breadcrumbs. Picking them up with a large grin as he went along, Mikey followed the strange trail of acorns deeper into the sewers.

In the very back of his mind, he felt that he was playing right into some sort of trap. However, his pure confusion and curiosity conquered his common sense as he continued to follow the trail, deeper and deeper into the dark sewers.

His brothers wouldn't mind if he was gone for a little while, would they? After all, he didn't want to be there when Raph discovered his little prank. He shuddered at the thought of what Raph would do to him...

By the time the trail of acorns had abruptly come to an end, the young orange clad turtles' hands were full of acorns of different sizes, shapes and colours. He examined his prizes with a large freckled grin before attempting to stuff them all into his belt pockets. Maybe they could use these to grow another tree in the lair or something. He was sure Sensei wouldn't mind having another tree in their home.

Something rustled amongst the garbage of the sewers.

His ninja instincts instantaneously kicked in as Mikey dropped the acorns, letting them crackle and roll along the cold concrete as he grabbed his nunchaku from his belt, assuming a battle stance as he waited for whatever made the sound to show itself. He should have known it was a trap of some sort.

A figure slowly came out of the shadows.

Only the whites of Mikey's eyes could be seen as he prepared himself.

As the figure finally stepped out from its hiding place, Mikey blinked twice, nearly dropping his nunchaku in astonishment at what he saw.

A small, white rabbit looking creature, minus the front limbs, walked calmly from out of the shadows. It had large black eyes, and small almost bird-like feet. It seemed to not even acknowledge Michelangelo's presence as it walked right passed his stunned form. Mikey watched it in complete awe as it passed by, realizing that in its wake, it produced flowers and emerald green grass within the concrete floors of the tunnel. Mikey's eyes grew wide and he gasped in wonder. This must be one of those magical creatures that Sensei read to them about when they were younger; a forest spirit perhaps? But what was one of those things doing in the sewers of New York?

Better yet, why did such a thing like that even exist in the first place?

Brushing those thoughts aside for a moment, Mikey put away his nunchaku decided to follow the strange spirit creature. He could bring it back to the lair and show his brothers and his Sensei that spirits did in fact exist. Then he could rub it in Donnie's face. That would show him who the smart one was!

As Mikey wordlessly followed the tiny spirit deeper into the sewers, it finally seemed to realize that it was being trailed as it looked back at the young turtle's freckled, grinning green face. Suddenly, the spirit made a small jump and vanished into thin air, leaving Mikey to stare at the spot it once was in complete shock as he stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around in the darkness to see if it had somehow teleported elsewhere, but to no avail.

Sighing in disappointment, he was about to give up and retrace his steps back to the lair, when something white entered his vision. He turned and spotted the spirit once again. It had somehow teleported farther into the tunnels. "Ah HA!" Mikey exclaimed ecstatically, "There you are!"

The spirit stopped in its tracks at Mikey's excited outburst and turned to stare at him. That is, it stopped to stare at him for not even a millisecond before making a panicked scramble into the tunnels when Mikey ran straight for him.

"Wait! Don't run away little fella! I'm not gonna hurt ya! I just wanna pet you! Then take you to my brothers and rub it in Donnie's face that you actually exist!" Mikey called out to the retreating form of the small spirit which still left a trail of greenery in its wake as it ran. For a small creature, it sure was as fast as shell!

But naturally, as a ninja, Mikey was faster!

Just before he could catch it however, the spirit turned abruptly to the right and made a dash into one of the small cracks of the tunnel walls. Mikey slowed to a stop as he bent over to peer into the dark hole. His acute eyesight could just make out the shape of the creature as it moved quickly in the darkness. He decided to wait for it to come out as he sat cross-legged in front of the hole, his hands placed in-between his legs and his head leaning forward and his eyes wide open and unblinking. Normally, he wouldn't be able to sit still for long periods of time, but not this time, for he was determined to catch this spirit creature red-handed.

Or in his case, green handed…

He sat still and patiently waited.

And waited.

And _waited_...

He let out a long sigh. Maybe it had vanished again or something?

Crackling noises to his left caught his attention as he sharply turned. Oh curse his short attention span –

His blue eyes grew wide as saucers as he gazed at not one, but two rabbit looking creatures. There was the little white one he had followed before, but it was hiding behind a much larger, blue rabbit creature, this one having arms unlike its smaller cohort and carrying a sack of what appeared to be acorns on its back with a small hole in it.

So THAT'S where the trail of acorns came from! And now there were TWO of them!

Oh, Donnie was going to **_LOVE_** this!

Mikey grinned as he stood up, rushing forward to catch them. But before Mikey could grasp even one of them, the spirits made a break for another tunnel, dropping more acorns along the way. "Hey! Wait!" he cried, standing up and running after them, "get back here! I'm not gonna hurt you! Honest!"

It was only then that he realized something about the tunnels; he didn't recognize any of them at all. None of the graffiti marks were at all familiar to him, and he couldn't see any of the markings he and his brothers made whenever they explored the tunnels; whenever they explored any part of the sewers they weren't familiar with, they would put a special mark somewhere visible, so they would know how far from the lair they were, or that whenever they were lost, seeing the marks would eventually lead them back home.

Mikey couldn't see any of them as he ran. Meaning he must be farther from the lair than he thought. However, deciding it was too late to turn back now despite that fact, he continued his pursuit on the little creatures. He could always call the guys later if he lost his way completley.

However, as the spirits then took a turn into yet another tunnel, with Mikey close behind them, he was unaware that as he made that sharp turn, his T-phone had slipped from his belt and dropped to the floor.

As Mikey ran, he realized that this tunnel sloped upwards slightly, and was teeming with green life, assortments of flowers and grasses sprouting everywhere. The walls were no longer even metal; it was made of pure, rich earth. It was just like a giant rabbit hole! Just where did this tunnel lead to? To Central Park maybe?

As he finally reached the end of the tunnel, Mikey burst through a thick bush, running out of the darkness of the sewers… and instantly had to shield his eyes with his hand as the brightness of the sunlight nearly blinded him –

Wait, sunlight?

He was outside now? In pure daylight?!

Not only that, but he lost sight of the spirits.

Great.

After adjusting his eyes to the light, Michelangelo stopped for a moment to take in his surroundings. His eyes flew open as he realized that he was not in Central Park. In fact, he may not have even been in New York anymore. He thought he may have been in a forest of some kind, for he was stood upon the large roots of a colossal tree that seemed to stretch up far into the sky, its luscious green leaves shielding him from the intense heat of the afternoon as they shifted slightly in the soft, cooling breeze.

He stared around him in utter awe. Just where was he exactly? Oh man, Master Splinter was going to kill him if he didn't get back home soon. Did he or his brothers even know he was gone? What if –

His thoughts were cut short when he caught sight of a gap within the roots of the tree. It was small, but it was large enough for him to easily fit through. Gathering some power into his legs, he easily bounded over to the gap and peered inside. He caught sight of a couple of acorns that lay on a mushroom deeper down in the hole. "Hmm… must've been left from one of those spirits. So this is where they went!" he said excitedly. As he leaned over to grab the acorns, he lost his balance and slipped over the edge. "Oh jeez!" he cried as he fell head first into the gap.

**_"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH_**!"

He rolled and tumbled down the hole, scraping his arms and legs on many stray twigs and stones as he fell. With a soft thud, Mikey unceremoniously fell out of the hole and landed flat on his face onto soft grass. "Ugh…some ninja I am. Lost my balance? Sheesh!" he muttered under his breath as he rubbed his head and now very sore arms and legs. "Well, at least Raph or Leo didn't see that – woah…"

He looked up and around his surroundings once more. It seemed he had landed in another beautiful forest – oh shell, all forest looked the same to him!

He stood up and looked around at the beautiful and extraordinary plant life that surrounded him, watching in wonder at the countless butterflies that fluttered in and out of flowers silently and elegantly. He had lived in the undergrounds of an urban jungle for fifteen years, and he had always wanted to see the real flowers and plants that Donnie had always shown the boys in his text books. They had been beautiful then, but they were nothing compared to the real thing.

"Wow…if only the guys where here to see this!" Mikey said, grinning to himself at his beautiful discovery. He closed his eyes took in a deep breath, and then let it out in a content and heavy sigh. It was so peaceful, so beautiful. Maybe he could stay here forever. Or maybe he could go back and bring his family here to this paradise. He was sure they would love that. No more Shredder, no more mutants, no more alien robots...what a life that would be...

Mikey nearly jumped out of his scaly green skin when a loud snore rang loud through air, coming from his right. He spun around only to find a large lump of grey fur that rested upon a flower bed.

Grey fur, that was _moving_.

Cautiously, he silently approached the large lump of fur. After waiting for a moment to see if it was safe, he hesitantly reached out and stroked the lump of fur, its fuzzy exterior soft and smooth to his three fingered touch, which made him smile. It felt like a giant kitty.

The lump suddenly jostled, causing Mikey to instinctively pull his hand away. As the lump relaxed once more, Mikey could not help but giggle slightly, and then he proceeded to continuously poke the lump. It jostled again, this time the tail-like appendage brushing against his freckled green face. Mikey laughed out loud and hugged the lump of fur, nuzzling against it like a giant teddy bear.

What he didn't expect was for the lump to suddenly pull him off the ground and lift into the air. He let out a panicked yelp before releasing the furry lump and falling instead onto a furry white…stomach?

Mikey looked up to realize that he lay atop of very, very large rabbit-like creature – almost ten times his size, almost as big as Splinter! It was a larger, grey version of the smaller spirits he had been chasing beforehand, with large furry paws, long whiskers that seemed to twitch subconciously, and long pointed furry ears.

And it seemed to be fast asleep.

Mikey wore a large grin upon his face and gasped in wonder at the creature he sat upon, scooting closer to the creatures' large whiskered face. This was beyond amazing! What would Donnie say if he could see this? Better yet, what would everyone say if they saw this?! He could just see their faces now!

He froze as the creature's snoring suddenly stopped, and its large eyes slowly cracked open. It stared directly at him for a time, at Mikey felt a chill run down his spine. He hadn't actually thought about whether or not this creature was dangerous. What if it decided to eat him for waking it up? However, Mikey's fears were put to rest as it slowly closing its eyes again, and it resumed its loud snoring, clearly having fallen back to sleep. Gosh, it was a heavier sleeper than even Raph!

Mikey giggled yet again as he scooted even closer to the creatures face. Out of interest, he decided to play with its nose, simply to see if it would do the same thing Splinter did when they played with his nose when he was asleep when they were younger. It twitched somewhat, causing Mikey to further poke at its nose just for fun. This resulted in the creature giving an all mighty sneeze that blew Mikey all the way to the other side of the flower bed. "Hahahaha! Whoa! And I thought Splinter was weird with his nose nuggets!" Mikey laughed, though still slightly winded from landing on his shell. Nonetheless, he climbed back onto the creatures belly, and once again shuffled his way back to its face.

This time, the creatures' eyes opened all the way as it inspected the small, green orange clad creature that sat upon him. "What the heck are you?" Mikey asked curiously, not actually sure if it could understand him, "Are you one of those forest spirits my Sensei told us about as kids? What were they called again? Umm…oh, a Ko – Kodama or something?"

In response, much to the young turtles' surprise, was a loud, almost ear piercing roar: "Toooh – toooh – **_ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_**!"

Mikey simply laughed, unfazed by the creature's so called fearsome and released his own mighty growl: "_**RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH**_! Hahahaha!" he laughed, watching as the creature's eyes grew wide with slight shock at his roar. "Dude! That was awesome!" he luaghed, "So your name's 'Roar'? That's a weird name. How about 'The Rabbinator'? I think that's a whole lot cooler! "

The creature once again repeated its growl, only this time, Mikey was able to grasp the message.

"Toh…toh…Totoro? Totoro?! Is that your name?" Mikey asked, his grin never leaving his face, and it only widened as the creature gave an unmistakable nod. "Haha! Yep! That's your name alright!" Mikey relaxed his position and lay flat on his plastron on Totoro's stomach, his head resting on his crossed arms. "Totoro huh? Man, I wish my brothers were here to see you…" He whispered.

Mikey and Totor stared at each other for some time, both gazing at each other in wonder. Totoro had never seen a young creature such as this little turtle before, and he was quite interesting. He seemed to behave like those other strange beings that populated the earth. What were they called again? Humans? Well, this little one looked nothing like them, but he sure behaved like them. So odd.

As Totoro released a long, jaw splitting yawn and began to fall back to sleep, Mikey himself began to feel very tired as he rubbed his eyes and yawned himself. He hadn't realized just how active he had been that day; he had ran to the pizza place with April, had beaten the living snot out of some Purple Dragons on his way home, and spent nearly an hour chasing those smaller spirits through the sewers. No wonder he felt so worn out…

…maybe…a small nap…wouldn't hurt…

Before Michelangelo knew it, as he lay upon Totoro's large furry chest, combined with the beasts' gentle snoring, the quiet birdsong and the soft breeze, he was lulled into a deep and peaceful sleep. 

* * *

"Mikey! Come on, we're leaving now!" Leonardo called into his younger brothers' bedroom, geared up for their evening patrol. For some odd reason, no one had seen or even heard their youngest brother for hours after he had delivered the pizzas. And that was saying something. Even their Sensei had noted on how quiet it was in the Lair. Leo supposed he was probably plugged into his T-phone playing that "Mine Field" game again, but even so, he ought to have at least heard his victory cry, "Booyakasha!" in there somewhere. In fact, now that he thought of it, he didn't even come to eat his pizza.

That fact alone was very unsettling.

"Mikey?" Leo tried again after receiving no answer. He rolled his eyes and sighed as he opened the door and stepped into the room. His brow creased in confusion when he saw no orange clad turtle sat on his bed, or anywhere in the chaos anyone dared to call a bedroom. "Huh…that's weird," the blue clad turtle muttered to himself as he left the room and went to find his remaining two brothers. He found them hunched over a large map of the city in Donatello's lab, plotting on where to patrol that night. Upon hearing him entering, they both lifted their heads.

"Hey, have you guys seen Mikey?" Leo asked.

Donnie and Raph shrugged and shook their heads in unison. "Nope. Haven't seen him since he came back with the pizza…which I still need to kill him for! I knew he ate my pizza! That smug little liar!" Raph grunted, pounding his right fist hard into the palm of his left hand.

Donnie rolled his eyes a Raph's remark and looked back to his eldest brother. "I haven't seen him either, Leo," he said, "I was beginning to wonder why it was so quiet around here. Is he in his room or something?"

"I just checked. He's not in there."

"Hmm… maybe he went skateboarding again?"

"He would have at least told us though, wouldn't he?"

"…Point taken."

It was by this point that the brothers began to feel slightly concerned. Mikey never left the lair without permission, or without telling them where he was going; he didn't ask for permission but at least they knew where he was going.

"Ah great!" Raph growled, "If that little shell-brains' got himself lost or something, when I get my hands on him I'm gonna – "

"Raph, save the empty threats for later, right now, we gotta find Mikey before Master Splinter finds out he's gone again." Leo said as he, Raph and Donnie left the lab and ran out of the lair in search of their younger brother. However, as they ran deeper through the sewers, with still no sign of Mikey, their worries began to grow.

"Mikey!" Leo called, "Mikey! Where are you?!"

"Mikey?! Mikey, you hear me? Answer me!" Donnie shouted.

"MIKEY! You better not be playing any of your dumb pranks or I'm gonna beat the green offa you, then I'm gonna beat you some more for eating my PIZZA!" Raph bellowed. Though his tone of voice said otherwise, Raph was in reality very worried about the orange clad turtle. They had been running through tunnels that even they didn't recognize for far too long. If he had passed through here, what was Mikey even doing? He would never explore any unknown parts of the sewers without the others with him…

"Okay, let's try his T-phone" Leo said as he pulled out his own T-phone from his belt, dilled Mikey's number and waited for Mikey to respond. The other brothers gathered around him anxiously in silence.

Suddenly the silence was shattered by the ringing of a cell phone. The turtles turned sharply.

That was Mikey's ringtone.

Leo quickly ran in the direction the ringtone was coming from. Soon, Leo's panicked voice echoed through the empty tunnels, "It's Mikey's T-phone!" he called.

Donnie and Raph rushed to their leaders' side to find him holding their brothers' phone that he found lying on the ground, broken and abandoned. Their eyes grew wide in panic. What happened? Where the shell was their baby brother?!

"Mikey! Mikey, where are you buddy?!" Raph called out, panic now replacing his frustration as he scanned the tunnels. Leo and Donnie did the same, searching the area frantically for any clues of their little brothers' whereabouts.

Mikey never left his T-Phone; it was their only means of communication. Not only that, but they had found it broken in tunnels they had never explored before. They feared the worst.

It was after half an hour of relentless searching that Donnie spotted a large crack in the wall, close to where Leo found Mikey's T-phone, and just large enough for them to fit through. It was so dark he could have missed it, but there was also a trail of large, circular footprints. "Hey guys! Over here! I think he might have gone through this crack in the wall here!"

"What? Are you sure?!" Raph asked, trying to keep his voice even to hide his worry, though he was failing.

Donnie nodded. "No doubt about it! These have gotta be his footprints!"

"Well, let's not waste anymore time! Let's move!" Leo commanded and ran into the tunnel, with Donnie and Raph close behind him.

"Hey, why are there flowers and grass down here?" Raph asked as they ran, looking around him to find different types of small flowers and greenery covering the dirt walls and floor of the tunnel.

"Beats me" replied Leo, who just as confused as Raph. "How could flowers grow in the New York sewers? In fact, it kinda looks like a rabbits' burrow or something."

"Well, technically" Donnie speculated, "It could be possible to grow certain types of plant life in environments like this. It all depends on the natural lighting as well as the amount of soil or compost that's – Oh my gosh!" Donnie cut his explanation short as all three turtles froze in their tracks and gasped in shock.

They had finally found Mikey, but he was lying on his side, his shell facing them. He was not moving, and none of them could tell if he was even breathing.

"MIKEY!" they all cried in unison as they ran over to his prone form. The kneeled over their younger brother as Donnie looked him over, checking his pulse and scanned for any possible injuries. Agter a few silent moments, he gave a heavy sigh of relief. "It's alright," he said, "he's still breathing, and he doesn't seem to have any injuries."

The other turtles sighed in relief also, but the news was not enough to completely put away their fears. Why was he unconscious in a tunnel none of them even recognized?

"Mikey? Mikey, wake up!" Leo cried as he shook Mikey semi roughly.

Mikey stirred and mumbled something about pizza under his breath.

The brothers stared at him in disbelief.

"He's…just…asleep?!" Raph growled as he grabbed Mikey by his shoulders and shook him roughly and bellowed, "HEY SHELL-BRAIN! WAKE UP!"

Mikey's eyes shot open as he jumped awake with a gasp. As he sat up and rubbed his eyes wearily, he looked around him to find his brothers staring at him with a mixture of relief and annoyance. "Mmmf…huh? Oh, hey guys, 'sup?" Mikey said, his words slurred together due to his drowsiness.

"Don't you "'sup" us Mikey!" Leo scolded, folding his arms in disapproval. "You had us worried sick! You've been gone for hours! And what do you think you're doing, running around in the tunnels by yourself and then sleeping in a pit?!"

It was then that Mikey, now fully awake, became fully aware of what had happened and where he was. His eyes snapped open and he looked around him. "Totoro?" he muttered.

"Totoro?" the older turtles asked in unison.

Mikey stood up and spun around on the spot in confusion. "Wha - ? Where's Totoro?"

Leo shared a confused glance with his siblings, who in reply simply shrugged their shoulders as they too stood up. "Maybe you were dreaming, Mikey" he said.

"Or maybe you have a fever," Donnie speculated, placing his hand on Mikey's forehead to check his temperature. "It's possible you could have caught a cold from sleeping in the dirt for so long, judging by the fact that – "

"– or you're just stupid!" Raph interrupted harshly, pushing past Donnie and Leo to smack Mikey upside the head.

"Oww! No, I don't have a fever, and I'm NOT stupid!" Mikey cried, rubbing the back of his head. "I saw a giant rabbit looking spirit creature thing called Totoro!"

"Totoro? You mean, like a Kodama, like the ones Master Splinter told us about when we were little?" Leo asked, to which Mikey nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, but he called himself Totoro! He was, like, furry, and huge and he looked like a giant mutant rabbit, only he wasn't, he was a forest spirit – oh, and there were also little tiny versions of him that were small and carrying acorns! I saw them after I dropped off the pizza and I chased them down so I could show them to you guys, so I followed them through this tunnel and fell through this hole in a giant tree in the middle of nowhere, and then I saw Totoro, but he kept falling asleep, and I think I fell asleep on him or something 'cus – "

"Mikey! Jeez, slow the heck down, bro!" Raph said, cutting off Mikey's breathless and almost incomprehensible explanation by jamming his hand over his mouth. "We have no idea what you're talking about, and even if we did…" he shared a glance with Donnie and Leo, "…I doubt we'd even believe you."

Mikey swiped Raph's hand away from his mouth and huffed in exasperation, "Cut it out! I'm not kidding! I really DID see Totoro!" he insisted.

As his older brothers shared another skeptical look with one another, Mikey sighed and hung his head in defeat. Why did nobody ever take him seriously? First it was the alien brain thing inside a robot body, and now this? It actually stunned him that they didn't believe him, what with everything they have dealt with so far; the Kraang, mutants, Ninjas in New York, Robot ninjas, and they can't believe in forest spirits in the sewers? If could only he could somehow prove it to them. The acorns wouldn't help at all, so what could he possibly use to–?

"Wait, wait! I've got it!" he exclaimed, and idea finally hitting him, "guys! Follow me! I'll show you where I found him!" Before the brothers could object, Mikey had taken off further down into the tunnel.

"Hey! Mikey, wait up!" Leo called after his youngest brother as he, Raph and Donnie ran after him down the tunnel.

Behind him, he heard Raph grumble, "Uggh, this better be good!"

"Cool it, Raph. He's probably just delusional or something from sleeping in a tunnel for too long." Donnie joked.

As they finally reached the end of the tunnel, the boys burst through a thick bush…only to find themselves standing in the middle of Central Park, filled with its familiar benches, concrete sidewalks and short neatly trimmed trees…but no sign of the great tree that Mikey had stood upon earlier.

Mikey stood there, his mouth hung open and his eyes wide in disbelief. Leo, Donnie and Raph looked around them, unimpressed. "This is where you saw him?" Donnie asked in a bored tone, leaning on his Bo staff lazily. It was quite dark by this time and hardly any humans walked around here this late at night, so they could afford to be more exposed than usual, (not completely but still enough to relax).

Mikey shook his head, "No! The last time I ran through there it lead to this giant tree! I swear it!" he cried.

Leo stared at his pleading brother sympathetically. His eyes were close to watering and his lower lip was quivering. He looked so defeated, like he really wanted them to believe he had seen these mythical creatures. Almost like that time where he had tried to convince them that there were alien brains in robot bodies, and when they shut him down, he had looked so dejected.

Raph slapped and hand on his forehead and groaned. "Quit playing around, Mikey!" he growled, his patience thinning, "I'm getting real tired of your – "

Before Raph could finish, Mikey darted past him and ran back through the bushes. "Hey! Where're you going?!" Leo cried, "Mikey, come back!"

"I'll get him." Raph growled again, preparing to run after Mikey, "Then I'm gonna smack the freckles offa him for wasting our – "

Before Raph could go after him, Mikey burst through bush directly next to them, staring around in bewilderment before looking back at his brothers. A short silence hung over the turtles, followed by a sudden burst of laughter from the older brothers. Despite the sad look on his face, they couldn't help themselves; the situation was just too humorous.

"Stop laughing at me!" Mikey cried, "I really DID see him! I'm not lying…" he trailed off as he looked down at his feet.

The laughter stopped as they looked at Mikey. Raph and Donnie could finally see how upset their brother was, with his fists clenched, his head lowered and his eyes only just brimming with tears. They couldn't help but feel bad for laughing as they grew silent.

Leo sighed slightly as he stepped forward and placed his hands reassuringly on Mikey's shoulders. "Mikey?" he said softly.

"…it's not a lie, Leo" Mikey mumbled in reply, folding his arms defensively and refusing to look up at his eldest brother.

"It's okay Mikey. Don, Raph and I believe you. Right guys?" he turned to his brothers expectantly.

Raph looked down at his feet and whistled tunelessly whilst Donnie looked to the side and rubbed the back of his head. "Well," Donnie began, "umm, well actually – "

Leo sent them a glare that would have sent even Rahzar running – and cowering – to a corner with his tail between his legs. Startled, Raph and Donnie straightened up and nodded their heads vigorously, their faces plastered with exaggerated fake grins."O-oh yeah! Sure! O-of course we believe you Mikey!" Donnie stuttered with a chuckle.

"Yeah, you, uh, did lead us all the way here to see this giant…rabbit…thing…so…yeah!" Raph stammered.

Leo turned back to his upset little brother, his glare vanishing from his features and said, "You hear that Mikey? We believe you. And I bet you I know what's going on. The reason why you can't find that giant tree might be because you may have somehow entered the spirit world. And the spirits just don't want to be seen right now. In the legends, spirits are said to only appear when they desire to be seen by the eyes of mortals. I guess you're very lucky, Mikey." He smiled as he patted Mikey's shoulder.

This seemed to cheer up Mikey a little as a small smile appeared across his face as he looked around at his brothers. "Really Leo? You think I'm lucky?" Mikey asked.

Leo winked at his younger brother and smiled. "You bet." Even if he couldn't bring himself to believe him, he had to make Mikey smile somehow; that's what big brothers do.

Mikey's smile then grew into a large grin as he ran full on into Leo and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. Leo chuckled and returned the hug. He glanced behind him to look at Donnie and Raph who looked at him strangely. Leo simply responded with a shrug and an awkward grin.

When Mikey finally released Leo, he gave a smug grin towards his other brothers and said, "Ha! You hear that guys? I'm the lucky dude! I got to see a forest spirit, and YOU guys MISSED it! How's it feel to be left out the loop now, huh? Hahaha!"

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that Mikey." Raph growled. Donnie just face palmed.

With that, the four brothers made their way out of Central Park and into the city to begin their evening patrol, having already lost track of time.

As they left the park, a small, white, rabbit creature with large white eyes crept out of the bushes and stared after the retreating forms of the turtles.

* * *

Later that night, the four boys returned to their lair, worn out from another battle against the Kraang and a gang of Foot Bots, and made their way to their way to their rooms and practically flung themselves upon their beds. Raph and Donnie fell asleep almost immediately, whilst Leo took the time to put away their weapons and make sure his brothers were fine, cracking their doors open slightly and peaking in. Once he was sure they were going to be fine, he silently closed the door and moved on. When he entered Mikey's room, he found him lying curled up on the floor, his face resting on a large sketchbook as he snored lightly. Leo smiled and shook his head before gently picking up his little brother in his arms and tucking him into his bed, not forgetting to give him his duck taped teddy bear, which Mikey hugged tightly, mumbling something under his breath in his sleep. Before he left, Leo picked up the sketch book and flicked through the pages. He sometimes forgot how good Mikey was at art…

Leo paused at a small illustration of Mikey lying upon a large rabbit-like creature. Underneath the drawing was a brief note (with horrible spelling errors, but still readable) which read:

_I had a reely exiting day today! It started off with pizza, but then I met this giant kodama named Totoro! He was so cute! Kinda like Leatherhead, only less leathery! I tried to show my brothers, but they diddnt belive me as usal, but I think Leo did. I wish I culd show them somday too. I bet theyed love it too._

Leo looked up from the journal and at the sleeping Mikey and smiled. He walked over and placed a soft hand on his head. "You and me both, little brother," he whispered. With that, he placed the book at the foot of his bed, and like a true ninja, left the room without making a sound.

* * *

**A/N: Are you guys liking this so far? It gets better I promise!**


	3. Chapter 3: Encounter in the Rain

**A/N: Hi guys! I'm super sorry for the long wait! I thought no one was reading this so I stopped, but then I saw that it had 6 follows so, what the heck, let's keep it going!  
**

**I OWN NOTHING!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Part 3: Encounter in the Rain**

"Man, this seriously sucks!" Raphael growled for the hundredth time that night, folding his arms across his chest and scowling as he leaned against the side of the Shell Raiser. "How the heck did the Shell Raiser break this time?!" he barked down at his taller brother.

"For the hundredth time, Raphael, _I don't know_!" Donatello growled irritably from underneath the large vehicle, "I think one of the Kraang managed to damage the drive shaft but…**_ouch_**!" he cried after hitting his head, followed by a string of muttered Japanese curse words, which were very colourful for one his age.

"How the heck did they do that?" Michelangelo asked as he sat playing a game on his T-phone next to Leonardo, who was leaning against the Shell Raiser beside Raphael, with his arms folded across his plastron, watching the exchange between his hot-headed brother and his smartest with slight irritation.

"Well, Mikey," Donnie sighed wearily, "the Shell Raiser was crashed on its side after one of the Kraang's van rammed into us, so I guess they must've – **_owww_**!" Donnie cried, once again having hit himself underneath the vehicle.

Leo closed his eyes and exhaled heavily. They had been out on another one of their evening patrols, looking for any sign of stray mutagen canisters, when they had run into some Kraang droids who had had the same idea. One of them had managed to flip the Shell Raiser on its side by ramming one of their vans into it full force, with the turtles still inside. Luckily, no one was severely hurt once the Shell Raiser had finally stopped rolling across the street (which was quite a wild ride, one that none but Mikey enjoyed), and they had managed to defeat the Kraang and put a stop to their latest operation within a few hours, but it had been a real challenge to flip the Shell Raiser back on its wheels again once it was all over. It was only after they were prepared to leave for the lair that they had discovered that the Shell Raiser was badly damaged underneath. They had been stood there for the better half of an hour with Donnie trying to fix it; however in their rush to get out of the lair eariler that night, Donnie had forgotten to bring his essential tool box, and so was taking longer than he usually would have.

As if none of them were in a bad enough mood already.

Looking at the time on his T-Phone, Leo sighed heavily. This was already taking far too long, and Splinter would surley get worried. "Donnie," Leo asked wearily, "How long will it take to get this thing fixed again?"

Donnie rolled out from the van and put a finger to his chin. "Um…judging by the amount of damage done under here and the fact that I don't have the tools essential for the job…I'd say approximately…another hour and a half."

The other brothers groaned loudly. Normally, they could have just run along the rooftops and sneak back into the sewers, but in this case, they couldn't. They couldn't leave the Shell Raiser in plain sight in the middle of the street; it would raise unsettling questions from the police, seeing as they were not really supposed to be parked there.

"Ugh, could this day get ANY worse?" Raph muttered under his breath.

Just then, there was a sudden flash of light, followed by a loud bang that echoed across the city. Mikey jumped in terror and gripped Leo's leg tightly, nearly nocking the older turtle off balance. Shortly after, rain began to fall, instantly drenching the brothers. All four turtles groaned in irritation. "_Aaaaaaaand_, it just DID!" Raph barked. "Why do I ask these questions? _WHY_?!"

"Calm down, Raph!" Leo growled, "Getting upset isn't gonna help anything!" Ignoring Raph's growled (and very rude) reply, he then turned to Donnie, who had just managed to crawl his way out completley from underneath the Shell Raiser. "Donnie, do you think you could go back to the lair and get the stuff you need to get this done faster?" he asked.

Donie stood up and dusted himself off, "Uh, yeah," he replied, "but It might take me a little while to get back on foot – " Donnie stopped and blinked once in realization, "...wait, do you mean me go alone and leave you guys in the rain?" Donnie asked, looking at his eldest brother in shock, "You've gotta be kidding, right?!"

Leo only gave him a half hearted shrug, shaking his head slightly to get the rain out of his eyes, "Well, someone has to keep an eye on the Shell Raiser, right? Don't worry, Don. We'll be fine, just go," he said and smiled reassuringly.

Hesitantly, Donnie nodded in understanding and quickly took off in direction of home. "I'll be back soon, okay?!" he called back as he ran into the night, "I'll bring my flashlight with me on my way back so you know it's me!" With that, Donatello disappeared, leaving Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo stood in the rain next to the broken Shellraiser.

A silence hung over them for a time, the only sounds heard being the splashing of the rain upon the concrete and their bodies, and the low grumbling of thunder in the distance. The quietness was shortly broken by Raph turning and asking Leo casually, "You wanna wait inside?"

Leo shook his head and replied, "Nah. You guys go ahead inside. I'll keep watch."

Raph rolled his eyes and sighed. "Dude, stop acting like a dumb 'noble hero' guy. I'm not gonna go inside and let you catch a cold. I'm not gonna be the one to nurse your stupid shell back to health!" he snapped, pointing an accusing finger at his older brother.

"Who said I'm trying to act noble?" Leo snapped back, swiping his brothers' finger away from his face, "I was just being considerate, because it was YOU who was complaining about getting wet not five minutes ago! And besides - "

Mikey listened to his brother's argument in silence with a sigh and a roll of his eyes. They always got in the most ridiculous of arguments, especially when one of them (usually Raph) was already in a sour mood. What he would give just to shut them up...

With a sudden jolt, Mikey remembered something that could possibly cool his brothers off at last.

Pausing the game on his T-phone, Mikey abruptly stood up and ran back inside the Shell Raiser, causing his brothers to stop their argument and wonder what their little brother was up to as they stared after him. Moments later, Mikey reappeared from the vehicle with two umbrellas. He opened up a large red one and handed it to Leo. All of this was done in complete silence.

Leo stared at Mikey in utter bewilderment for a moment, before taking the umbrella and holding it over the three of them, watching Mikey as he casually sat back down again and recommenced his game as if nothing had happened.

"Uh…thanks Mikey." Leo said awkwardly.

"Yeah…thanks Mikey." Raph mumbled grudgingly.

"No problameo dudes," Mikey replied nonchalantly with a shrug, not once looking up from his game, "It's what I do best. Besides, it's way better than listening to you guys argue over nothing like a bunch of angry birds again. Oh, and before you ask, it was April's idea to bring the umbrellas. Dunno why she made me bring two though. Might be that telepathetic thing she has going on."

"Telepathic, Mikey." Leo corrected.

Mikey shrugged again, "Whatever."

Leo and Raph shared a confused look before shrugging and resuming the silence once again. Mikey could be both very helpful and very weird in the weirdest of times. It was sometimes best not to question it and just move on.

An eternity seemed to have passed, but Donnie had not yet returned. Leo once again took out his T-Phone and checked the time; Midnight on the dot. Donnie had been gone for an hour and a half. Leo was starting to worry that he might have run into some trouble on his way back, and was in the process of calling him via T-phone when heard a quiet yawn below him. Quirking a brow, he looked down. It was Mikey, having put away his game long ago, and was now sitting with his elbows on his knees, his chin resting in his hands as he blinked several times in an effort to keep himself awake.

Leo smirked, rolling his eyes as he bent over slightly and put a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "Mikey, you okay?" he asked softly.

Mikey only nodded his head drowsily. On his right, Leo heard Raph smirk. "Aww, is it time for his nap already?" he teased.

"Knock it off, Raph" Leo snapped, and then turned back down to Mikey. "Mikey, do you wanna go back inside the Shell Raiser until Donnie gets back?" he said in a more gentle tone.

Mikey shook his head as firmly as he could. "Don't worry dude…I'll be fine…" he slurred, clearly unable to keep himself awake much longer as his head nearly slipped from its perch in his palm.

Leo and Raph shared a knowing look and shook their heads; the poor little guy was exhausted. Though they all had every right to be; they had been fighting Kraang droids nonstop for hours, so who wouldn't be tired?

With a sigh, Leo handed the umbrella to Raph and bent down on one knee next to Mikey. "Here, Mikey. Climb on," he offered. He would normally not do this, and result to letting him rest on his shoulder, but since it was raining, Mikey was more at risk of getting a cold, so he needed as much body heat as he could get, despite both of them being partly cold blooded. Meaning Leo had no real choice but to hoist him up onto his back.

Mikey turned a tired gaze towards his older brother. "You sure? Don't wanna break your shell dude…" he mumbled.

Leo chuckled and gave Mikey a warm smile. "It'll be fine Mikey. I'll just wake you up when Donnie gets back."

With that said, Mikey shrugged and wrapped his arms around Leo's neck as Leo hoisted him off the ground, hooking his arms underneath Mikey's legs and getting him into a comfortable position on his shell. "Thanks dude," Mikey mumbled tiredly as he rested the side of his face on his brothers' shoulder.

Leo grunted slighty underneath Mikey's weight. "No problem," he huffed.

Within seconds, Mikey was fast asleep on Leo's back, snoring softly and his head resting and arms dangling over Leo's shoulders.

"Ugh! Dang it, he's heavy!" Leo whispered through clenched teeth, though he needn't have bothered; Mikey was too far gone to hear him anyhow. "He needs to lay off the pizza!"

He then looked over to Raph, who had been watching the whole scene play out with a smug grin. "What?" he asked the smirking red clad turtle.

"Oh nothing. Just the fact that you're acting like "Momma Leo" again!" Raph laughed smugly.

Leo rolled his eyes at the mention of that annoying nickname they had given to him some time ago. It had occurred to his three brothers that Leonardo had a tendency to act like what they liked to refer to him as, a "mother goose" when it concerned his brothers wellbeing, more so than Donnie did. "Well," Leo grumbled, "he better not get used to this, I'm not gonna do this every time he gets tired. He's way too old, and way too heavy for this. And besides Raph, I used to do the same to you when we were younger."

Raph's eyes grew wide. "No you didn't! That was Donnie, not me!" he protested, his face turning slightly red at the embarrassing memory, though he tried to hide it by crossing his arms and turning away from the now smirking azure banded turtle.

"Pretty sure it was you. No denying it, Raphie!" Leo teased, a smug grin plastered on his face.

The use of the old nickname they used as small children made Raphael's cheeks go even more scarlet. "Bite me, Lame-anardo!" he hissed back.

"I love you too, Raph," Leo chuckled before resuming the silence. The rain fall and Mikey's gentle snores were the only sounds heard for the longest time as they waited for their purple clad brother.

"Where the heck is Donnie?" Raph growled after a while, staring up at the rooftops in search of his other younger brother, "He's been gone way too long!"

"Relax, Raph," Leo warned, "He's gonna be back soon. We have to be patient -"

"I'm gonna go find him! You stay with 'Sleepy' here while go look for Dork-atello!" Raph interupted, and before Leo could protest, Raph had plunked the umbrella on the shoulder that wasn't occupied by Mikey's head, and darted down the way Donnie had gone and disappeared into the night.

Leo scowled as he watched Raph vanish. How could he just leave him there with a heavy Mikey on his back in the middle of the rain?

Jerk. He would get him back for this later for sure.

The sudden sound of splashing footsteps from behind the Shell Raiser interrupted his thoughts. Leo tensed instantly, not daring to move a muscle as the footsteps came closer. How had he not detected that they were being watched?

He listened closley. It was too heavy to be a Foot Bot, but too light for a Kraang droid…

'_A mutant?_' Leo thought.

He then shuddered fearfully.

_'...Slash?'_

He tried to stay calm as he tried to thinkk of a quick getaway plan. He couldn't fight with Mikey on his back, but he couldn't put him down either; from what he had heard from Raph, Spike..._Slash_... would go to extreme lengths just to get them out of the picture for good, though he knew not exactly why. Raph wasn't so talkative after the whole ordeal. He would surley go after Mikey first, as he would be an easy target, and not to mention that it was near impossible to wake him up at this point; he was far too heavy a sleeper. An atomic bomb could explode right next to him and he would still be asleep! But no matter what, he had to protect his brother. He would never abondon any of his brothers, no matter the danger.

Even if that danger was his other brothers' friend, and ten times stronger than him.

He was their leader, and older brother. It was his duty to protect them at all costs.

The footfalls grew louder as the large, dark figure came closer. Leo prepared himself to run. Slash was far too strong to take on by himself. Running was the only option he had left…

However, nothing could have prepared him for what he saw standing tall on his left as the figure came out of the darkness.

"What the…" he breathed in wonderment as he stared upwards, his eyes wide and his jaw agape as he gaped at what appeared to be…

…A giant, rabbit like being…with large wide eyes, grey dampened fur from the rain and long black claws on its large stubby paws. And as if that wasn't weird enough, it had a small lily pad on its head as if it were an umbrella.

Leo stared at the creature beside him in shock. Every detail on this creature exactly resembled the picture in Mikey's journal.

He couldn't be…

"…Totoro?" Leo gasped quietly. He gave a wide eyed glance at Mikey, who was still sound asleep, his head leaning heavily on his right shoulder. "I don't believe it…h-he wasn't kidding…h-he's real…!" he stuttered quietly, turning his head to stare straight ahead, not trusting his eyes to look back at the creature that stood next to him.

Neither of them moved for what seemed like an eternity, but Leo's mind was reeling frantically. The mythical creature his little brother had been babbling about last night…was standing right next to him, in the rain, in New York, next to the broken Shell Raiser, with a damn lily pad on its head. Leo had seen many weird things in his life, himself and his own family included, but in that very moment, had never been more dumbfounded in his life. In fact, why wasn't he running?! For all he knew, this so called 'spirit' could be a death sprite from the underworld, and the only reason why he didn't devour Mikey last night was either because he was too tired to bother, or Mikey was far too annoying to bother eating! Also, Leo was mch bigger than Mikey, he would make an excellent meal!

Suddenly, he knew the answer.

Leo realized with a start that this creature was emitting a strange aura, something he had learned how to feel after months of one on one training and meditating with Splinter. It was an aura that was calming, reassuring, friendly, almost playful...

...almost magical.

It swept over Leonardo like a soft blanket, calming his nerves and relaxing his tensed muscles. He now knew that he should not fear this creature, nor should he find any reason to. He and his little brother were safe in his company.

However, it didn't cease the slight awkwardness he still felt. There was a spirit creature stood next to him, not moving, and possibly not even aware of his pressence, so what should he do? What should he say? He didn't know. Heck if he knew if this creature could even understand him at all. Not knowing what else to do in this awkward silence, Leo slowly looked back up at the Kodama.

"…um…Totoro?" he said apprehensively

In response, the Kodama slid its gaze to the young blue clad turtle, and gave him a strange, wide smile that would have been more appropriate for that creepy cat in 'Alice in Wonderland.'

"Tooooh…tooooh…roooh…" it seemed to respond quietly.

Despite himself and his shaken up state, Leo gave the creature an awkward smile and shrug, or as much of a shrug he could manage with his sleeping brother on his shoulder. "Oh, wait a sec!" he exclaimed suddenly, before bending over as much as he was able with Mikey still on his back, and gripped the second umbrella Mikey had brought with him (which got him thinking why he had even brought the second one with him in the first place, unless it was for Donnie when he came back). He opened the umbrella with a 'WHOOMPH' ythat had the creature's fur stand on end, and held it up to the strange creature. "Here, try this" he offered with a smile.

Totoro simply stared at the blue clad turtle blankly. What was this other little green creature giving him? A shield of some sort?

"Ngh! Hurry, Mikey's slipping!" Leo grunted, trying hard to keep Mikey on his back with one arm.

Totoro blinked once before finally accepting the umbrella from Leonardo, which allowed him to bounce Mikey carefully back into a comfortable position on his shell.

Leo watched in amusement as Totoro fumbled around with the umbrella. He couldn't help but smirk, finding his behaviour similar to that of Mikey's, before once again unhooking one arm from underneath Mikey's leg as he held up his own umbrella as a demonstration. "You hold it over your head, like this," he explained. He smiled again as the giant followed his example and held the umbrella over his pointed eared head. Leo bounced Mikey back on his shell and hooked his arm back under his leg.

The turtle and the beast stood in the rain in silence once more, though this one more content than previously. It truly was an anomalous scene to behold; a mutant turtle, equipped with ninja weapons, holding another similarly armed snoozing turtle on his back, standing next to a colossal spirit being, both of them holding umbrellas.

Indeed, nothing abnormal about that.

Of course, Leonardo, who was well-known amongst the family to have grown out of fairy tales at age four, long before Michelangelo, (Raphael had grown out of them by the age of five, whereas Donatello was 'too smart' for fairytales) was still quite disconcerted, despite his calm demeanor.

If Mikey ever woke up, he would have every right to rub it in his face.

He could already hear him chant 'Ha ha! I told you, I told you!' over and over again in his head, which made him roll his eyes with a smirk.

The rain had seemed to have lessened down to a light drizzle by this time, when a few heavy droplets of rain from a lamppost above hit Totoro's umbrella, causing his fur to stand up on end slightly from the noise.

What on earth was that? An earthquake? Whatever it was, it felt strange. But slightly interesting as well...

A few more heavy droplets landed on the umberella, and Totoro felt that same shiver run down his spine, though he seemed to like it as he began to smile that strange smile of his.

Ooh, this was fun! Maybe he could make more.

That smile of his managed to put Leonardo on the edge again as he gazed up at the Kodama. He only ever saw that sort of smile when Michelangelo was up to something, most of the time involving pranking the brothers, which was never a good sign.

"Oh no…" he cringed.

His fears were confirmed when Totoro jumped. It was only a small leap, his feet hardly even leaving the surface of the ground, but when he landed, it sent what felt like a blundering earthquake through the earth, causing several car alarms to go off, and for Leo to be swept right off his feet from the shockwave. "Waaaaagh!" he cried out in mild terror as he landed on his feet again, his knees buckling beneath him slightly. More heavy droplets of water came crashing upon them from the lamposts and rooftops, sending shivers down both their spines. It seemed as though Totoro had loved it as he roared loudly in joy.

Leo stared up wide eyed at the bellowing creature. He was just like Mikey, it was scary. It was totally amused by raindrops for goodness sakes! So much for not being dangerous.

"…mmmm…muh?" said an incoherent voice on Leo's shoulder. Mikey had finally woken up from all the noise it seemed.

Leo turned to look at his waking younger brother. "Hey Mikey. Sleep well, little brother?" he asked, to which Mikey gave a tired nod.

Mikey lifted his head to look at his older brother, a goofy grin plastered on his face, "Yep. Slept like a rock. Heh. Rocks," he chortled drowsily.

Leo darted his eyes to the side. "Um…Mikey? Y-y'know how you said you saw a Kodama called Totoro?" he stuttered nervously.

"Yeah…what about him?"

"Well, um…look up…"

Confused but too tired to really care, Mikey obeyed and looked up over Leo's left shoulder, and his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

Totoro was there.

Totoro was _**THERE**_, and Leo could _**SEE** _him!

Mikey grinned widely and wrapped his arms around Leo's neck in a tight embrace. "See?! I told you! I TOLD you he was real! I told you so, I told you so!" he chanted over and over again happily.

Leo could only chuckle and smile at his brothers' delight. He hadn't seen Mikey this happy since their discovery of processed Italian food. And for the pizza crazed turtle, that was seriously saying something.

It was brilliant to see his smiling face again.

Suddenly, something bright from overhead caught Leo's attention as he looked up, and saw a faint light moving rapidly across the rooftops. Donnie's flashlight!

"Mikey, here comes Donnie. I guess Raph found him at last," he said with a sigh of relief. He was beginning to get worried about them.

It was then that the light suddenly detached into two, and began bouncing up and down.

Leo and Mikey shared a confused glance, which quickly transformed into one of fear once the owner of those lights came closer, and into the light of the lamppost above them. It wasn't Donatello, nor was it Raphael…in fact, it wasn't even a turtle. It was a giant cat creature, with multiple legs impelling it forwards at high speeds, its large, amber eyes piercing the darkness with an intensity no lamp or sunlight could match…

And it was heading straight for them.

The giant feline skidded to a stop on the wet pavement, just in front of the two stunned adolescent turtles, the wind rushing past them, blowing the umbrella clean off Leo's shoulders. It shot them a large, fanged grin and meowed. Mikey and Leo gasped, their eyes wide and fearful as Leo took a small step backwards. Not only was this cat huge, and not only did it have multiple legs like that of a caterpillar, but it had windows on its sides, like a bus…

"Dude...It's a Cat Bus…" Mikey said in a hushed tone. Leo could only nod, his power of speech taken from him.

The fur of the cat creature, (Newly dubbed, The 'Cat Bus') protracted, revealing a furry door shaped hole. Totoro, still holding up the spare umbrella though it had long since stopped raining, took a step forward towards the Cat Bus. Before boarding it however, he turned back to the turtles with a large toothy grin, and held out a small parcel wrapped in a bamboo leaf, and tied with a ribbon made of grass. Mikey held out his hand warily as Totoro gently placed the gift into his large green palm.

With that, Totoro hopped into the 'bus', and the Cat took off into the distance, hopping over buildings and dashing through the streets. The way it moved silently into the night would make even the most highly skilled Ninja envious.

…so, possibly even more skilled than The Shredder? The thought was almost hysterical.

The two teenaged turtles stood there in that same spot for a long time in stunned silence, staring out in the direction the Cat Bus had fled, eyes wide and mouths agape. Slowly, Leo slid his arms from under Mikey's legs as he slid down off his back and onto the pavement. After a long moment of silence, Leo finally muttered, almost to himself:

"…well Mikey, so much for giving Don his umbrella…"

From where he sat on the floor, Mikey could only nod silently.

Just then, another light, appeared on the rooftops. This time, it was only one light and it was fainter than the eyes – or 'headlights' – of the Cat Bus. The ghostly figure holding the light hopped down in front of them, accompanied by another slightly shorter figure; it was Donatello, carrying his tool box, and Raphael, wearing a slightly amused look on his face.

"Hey guys," Donnie said casually, and slightly out of breath, and behind him, Raph gave a salute and a smirk. "Sorry we took so long, heh. It took me longer to find my toolbox than I thought, and Sensei wanted to know what happened to you guys, so it took us some time to explain –"

Donnie was cut off unexpectedly by Leo charging him, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist and burying his face into the crook of his neck. Mikey followed suite, only he charged at Raphael, pinning his arms to his sides as he clung to him like a teddy bear.

Both Raph and Donnie stiffened and shared a dumbfounded look. What the shell was wrong with them? For Mikey to hug one of them like that at random was normal…but Leo? Now that was borderline bizarre.

"…uh, L-Leo? What's going on? What happened?" Donnie asked nervously, "Did something happen to you guys while we were gone, are you alright?"

Raph scoffed and rolled his eyes, "They probably just got worried about us again," he groaned, "we're ninjas, remember? We can take care of ourselves!"

Leo then finally lifted his head, but his expression was quite unexpected; he was grinning like a fool. And what he did next startled them even more. "Oh my god Donnie you won't believe it!" he babbled gleefully, still clinging onto Donnie, "Mikey was RIGHT! The thing, th-the Totoro thing, it came! It came and I SAW him!"

"We saw a Cat Bus thingy too!" Mikey chimed, still clinging onto Raph, who was gaping at the two of them in astonishment, as was Donnie.

"Wait, you saw what?" Donnie said, struggling to take all of this in properly, but the two excited turtles were not yet through.

"It was freaking huuuuuuge!" cried Leo, spreading his arms out wide in exaggeration.

"With eyes, like, THIS big!" Mikey exclaimed, putting his fingers over his eyes in a circle as a goofy demonstration.

"It was AWESOME!" they both yelled in unison, before releasing their stunned brothers to bounce round each other and laugh. "Hahahaha! I can't believe it! I saw Totoro! Mikey, I'll never doubt you again little bro!" Leo laughed, grabbing Mikey and pulling him down for a noogie.

"Owww! Hahaha! I told you bro!" Mikey cried, trying to pull himself out from his brothers' grip, but failing horribly as his laughter weakened him.

Behind them, Raphael and Donatello stared at the two 'dancing dorks' in pure, unadulterated incomprehension. Not only were Leo and Mikey prancing around and acting like fools in the middle of the street, but Leonardo, their older brother, leader, and the one known out of the brothers to be the calmest and most mature of the four turtles, had taken one of the most important rules of the Ninja – the art of silence – and had practically slaughtered it, maliciously burnt the remains, and then relinquished the ashes out through the nonexistent window.

Not only that, but Leonardo was laughing. He was actually laughing and dancing around like a small child at Christmas with their youngest brother. This was something he had not had the chance to do ever since he had taken up the heavy burden of leadership some time ago, during their first time outside of the sewers.

Despite the extreme oddity of the situation, the two couldn't help but exchange a smile at the scene before them. Leonardo almost never had the chance to act like a normal teenager…well, as normal a teenager as a mutant ninja turtle could be, due to the obligation he held as a leader as well as an older brother of four. But looking at the two of them now, laughing and playing together…

It was almost as if the burden had vanished. As if it was never there.

Smiling at each other and shrugging their shoulders, Donnie and Raph decided to let their brothers play around just a little longer.

Let Leo truly smile again…If only for a little while.

* * *

Later that night, the four brothers, exhausted from their long (and wet) mission, finally returned to the lair inside their repaired Shell Raiser. Splinter was waiting for them at the entrance, and to his surprise, he was greeted by a bouncing Leonardo and Michelangelo as they ran out of the Shell Raiser, and nearly knocked him clean off his feet as they charged and hugged him, babbling about seeing a spirit creature of sorts before they ran off again into the lair. He looked back at his two remaining sons, raising a confused brow, only to recive a pair of smirks and shrugged shoulders.

However, before Splinter could possibly question them further, a pair of harsh, chesty coughs were heard from the living room, followed by sneezes. Donnie tensed up. "Uh oh. I knew I shouldn't have left them out in the rain," he sighed, stepping past his father and heading towards his two sick brothers. Raphael began to laugh as he followed Donatello, and Splinter watched them all as they fussed over one another. He couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. He had never seen both Michelangelo and Leonardo so joyful like this since they were very young, and it brought warmth to his heart upon knowing that even with all the preassures of the problem mounting on him day by day, his oldest son could still act like the young, foolish teenager that he was.

However, he also knew that two cetain turtles in particular were going to be bedridden for a couple of days, and so he made haste to the kitchen to prepare some green tea for them.

* * *

Leo let out another chesty cough as he sniffed, wrapping himself deeper into the warmth of his blankets as he lay in his bed. Man, did this ever suck. Maybe he should have just waited inside the stupid Shell Raiser like Raph said he should, then he wouldn't be in this mess. Now he would have to stay in bed for a few days unless he wanted to face Donnie's constant mothering, and he was going to miss out on training sessions and patrols...

The door to his room began to creak open as someone slid inside, before quietly shutting again. He didn't have to open his eyes to know who it was as he shuffled over to his bed and climbed in, nuzzling their head underneath his chin as they attempted to snugle down. Smiling, he shifted himself further across his bed to make room for his intruder, shifting his arm from beneath the covers to wrap it around his little brother.

"Bein' sick on your own seriously sucks," Mikey sniffed.

Leo let out a small chuckle despite his aching throat, "Yeah. Bein' sick sucks, period."

Mikey snuggled closer to Leo. "But it was worth it, wasn't it?"

Leo grinned, "Oh yeah. Sorry I didn't believe you before, Mikey. It was kind of amazing, really. I never thought in a million years that I'd see something like that. I've seen weed monsters, alien robots, mutant creatures and a robot ninja army, but never any spirit creatures...so this is a first."

Mikey looked up at his brother with a giant grin, "I could tell, dude! You were acting like you were high as a kite!" he laughed.

Leo drew away slightly so he could look down at Mikey, his eyes narrowed playfully and a large grin across his face. "Oh really?" he said slowly, "So in other words, I was acting like you?"

Mikey gasped in mock offence, "Hey! Take that back, Lame-o-nardo!" he laughed, smacking Leo on his shoulder.

Leo let out a laugh as he suddenly began to tickle Mikey, cackling as Mikey began to laugh and struggle out of Leo's grip, but to no avail as the tickling weakened him, but he would not go down without a fight as he tickled Leo back, and within seconds the two were lying on the floor in a helpless fit of giggles.

In the end, Leo knew that Mikey was right. Meeting that giant, gentke creature was totally worth getting sick for. If he had gone inside the Shell Raiser, he would never have gotten a cold, but then he would never have had that experience.

He would have never had the chance to act like a kid again. 


End file.
